Confronted with U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalating threats of a hostile takeover of Greenland, Congress seems prone to proceed sidelining itself after demurring from utilizing a must-pass protection spending invoice to set down agency markers about what’s and isn’t allowable in terms of utilizing U.S. army drive to annex the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
The textual content of the final package of fiscal 2026 spending payments, which incorporates the all-important protection spending measure, didn’t embrace any point out of NATO or Greenland when it was launched Tuesday by senior Republican and Democratic negotiators from the Home and Senate.
Confronted with U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalating threats of a hostile takeover of Greenland, Congress seems prone to proceed sidelining itself after demurring from utilizing a must-pass protection spending invoice to set down agency markers about what’s and isn’t allowable in terms of utilizing U.S. army drive to annex the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
The textual content of the final package of fiscal 2026 spending payments, which incorporates the all-important protection spending measure, didn’t embrace any point out of NATO or Greenland when it was launched Tuesday by senior Republican and Democratic negotiators from the Home and Senate.
Particularly, the laws contained no prohibition on using federal funds to assault a NATO ally, as Trump repeatedly appeared to threaten to do that month on the subject of Denmark, along with threatening tariffs towards European nations that oppose his push to amass Greenland.
As a substitute, the protection spending measure’s accompanying joint explanatory statement, which explains the outcomes of invoice negotiations between the Home and Senate, features a transient part on “ironclad” congressional assist for NATO.
“The settlement helps NATO’s renewed focus to increase the levels of military investment by every member state, most lately the June 2025 summit at The Hague. … These achievements will proceed to make sure that it stays an important and efficient army alliance in historical past,” the assertion reads. The “settlement underscores Congress’ ironclad assist for NATO and all its thirty-two member states.”
That bland affirmation for NATO was touted by Senate Democrats of their summary of the bill, whereas Home Republicans skipped any point out of NATO or Greenland of their own summary.
However whilst many congressional Republicans wish to elide dialogue of Trump’s threats towards a NATO ally, the U.S. president continued to maintain his private fixation with seizing Greenland entrance and middle on the worldwide stage with a high-profile Wednesday speech on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland.
“We’d like it for strategic nationwide safety and worldwide safety. This monumental unsecured island is definitely a part of North America, on the northern frontier of the Western Hemisphere,” Trump stated in his remarks, the place he additionally criticized at size the choice by Washington to return Greenland to Copenhagen’s management after World Warfare II. After Denmark fell to Nazi Germany, america took control of Greenland to forestall the Nazis from seizing it.
“That’s our territory. It’s due to this fact a core nationwide safety curiosity of america of America, and in reality, it’s been our coverage for lots of of years to forestall outdoors threats from getting into our hemisphere,” Trump stated.
Notably, Trump appeared to take the specter of army drive to amass Greenland off the desk, saying “folks thought I might use drive. However I don’t have to make use of drive. I don’t wish to use drive. I received’t use drive.”
Even so, the shortage of any handcuffs within the newest protection laws on Trump’s potential to make use of the army to grab Greenland is hanging for the truth that a number of sturdy Republican critics of his Greenland coverage are prime congressional appropriators. They embrace former Senate Majority Chief Mitch McConnell, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen. John Kennedy, and Home Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole.
Trump’s insistence on annexing Greenland and Europe’s reaction to the threat to the territorial sovereignty of one in every of its Nordic members have dominated headlines within the final week because the U.S. chief’s rationale for seizing the Arctic territory has modified on a near-daily foundation. The U.S. president has pushed doubtful arguments about the necessity to higher defend Greenland towards potential aggression by China or Russia. He has additionally justified his push on a want to amass Greenland’s critical minerals to profit america and on his wounded pride over being handed over by Norwegian judges of their awarding of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
It’s nonetheless potential that U.S. lawmakers, significantly within the Senate, will use the modification course of to attempt to safe ground votes on Trump’s potential to make use of the army or different measures wanting drive to grab Greenland. Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego has already launched such an amendment.
However on different NATO and Ukraine-related issues, lawmakers had been extra keen to go towards the administration’s needs.
The laws supplies $400 million in annual safety help for Ukraine, the identical quantity licensed by the current fiscal 2026 protection authorization legislation, Democrats famous.
It additionally appropriates $200 million for the Baltic Safety Initiative, which Congress established in 2020 to direct Protection Division safety cooperation with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The Trump administration had proposed eliminating funding for the Baltic initiative. And the invoice supplies roughly $48.5 million above the administration’s request to assist U.S. European Command’s “efforts to broaden cooperation with allies and companions,” in keeping with the explanatory assertion.
Federal funding runs out on Jan. 30, giving lawmakers a brief window to clear the remaining fiscal 2026 spending payments, which additionally embrace a funding measure for the State Division and associated international help applications.
